Questions tagged [talmud-gemara]
The Talmud is a central text of Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, metaphorical stories customs, and history.
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Does the Gemara teach that Jews are allowed to kill gentiles but not vice versa?
The Gemara challenges: But wherever there is liability for capital punishment, this tanna teaches it; as it is taught in the first clause: With regard to bloodshed, if a gentile murders another ...
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Difference between aggadah in gemara and midrash
Much of the non-halachic aggadah quoted in the gemara overlaps with aggadah from the midrash such as midrash tanchuma or midrash rabbah and others. Yet there are some aggadah that are only found in ...
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Freeing a slave by kinyan
Gittin 39b tells the story of a slavewoman whose master attempted to free her by giving her his hat. But this wasn’t valid because it was HIS hat. For the transfer to be valid, the object would have ...
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Did Sanhedrin use Oral law along with Written Law
Did Sanhedrin use Oral law along with Written Law in their decisions?
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Does the soul of a child have relation to the souls of their parents? How does the pre-creation of souls impact the parent-child soul relation?
When parents have a child, is the soul of the child related to the soul of their parents? Some mystical teachings say that a soul is composed of multiple components. From this, I think that it might ...
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Is this a way to debate?
Gittin 20a:
Rav Ḥisda said: I am able to invalidate all the bills of divorce in the world... Rava said to him: What is the reason that you could invalidate them?
I would expect that Rav Ḥisda would ...
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Who says angels have (only) male genitals?
At some point whilst reading up on the imagery of angels, I came across an essay detailing how at least one Rabbi in history claimed (as far as I remember) that angels basically came either with male ...
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Where does רבי שמעון בר נחמי learn that you must read it on י"ד+ ט"ו throughout generations?
On מגילה: דף ב:א there's a מחלוקת between רבי שמעון בר נחמי & רב שמן בר אבא about where in the תורה is it hinted that we read the מגילה on י"א י"ב & י"ג. I have thought of a ...
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Where does רבי שמעון בר נחמי learn that different places have different designated times to read the Megilah?
On מגילה: דף ב:א there's a מחלוקת between רבי שמעון בר נחמי & רב שמן בר אבא about where in the תורה is it hinted that we read the מגילה on י"א י"ב & י"ג. I have thought of a ...
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What does רבי שמעון בר נחמי do with the extra letters in the word "בזמניהם"?
On מגילה: דף ב:א there's a מחלוקת between רבי שמעון בר נחמי & רב שמן בר אבא about where in the תורה is it hinted that we read the מגילה on י"א י"ב & י"ג. I have thought of a ...
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Why is the last chapter in masechet pesachim called ערבי פסחים in the plural, which does not match the girsa of the mishnah?
The mishnah begins ערב פסחים in the singular, yet the chapter is called ערבי פסחים in the plural. Chapter titles in the gemara almost always match the first words verbatim, very rarely skipping a word ...
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Four counted as dead & Agunot
Nedarim 64b relates of the Gemara: "it was taught in a baraita: Four are considered as if they were dead: A pauper, and a leper, and a blind person, and one who has no children."
Could one ...
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What is the proof and reasoning that Rabbi Yitzchak and Rabbi Elazar are NOT arguing in Megillah 29a
B"H
In a kuntress that the Rebbe gave out towards mid 5752 about the "house of our Rebbe in Bavel", it starts out with a chidush in Megillah 29a that Rabbi Yitzchak and Rabbi Elazar are ...
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Differences between Birur and הנהגה
How do the techniques of הנהגה and בירור work in Halacha? Is the difference that the latter needs proof, and the former is based on a חזקה?
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Between Sanhedrin 108b & Sanhedrin.38b
According to Sanhedrin 108b:
Rav Ḥana bar Leva’ei says that Shem the Great said to Eliezer, servant of Abraham: When the four great kings of the east and the west
came upon you to wage war with ...
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End of Redaction of the Mishnah and the Gemara
The Talmud has three layers, the Mishnah, the Gemara and the comments (mainly Rashi for Bavli and others for Yerushalmi, who are well known).
What is the estimate timeline for the end of redaction
of ...
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Was music considered to be a part of forbidden Greek philosophy?
Starting with Pythagoras (c.500BCE) and Plato (c.400BCE) music was considered wisdom and as such, an integral part of Greek philosophy (see "Music of ancient Greece and philosophy WIKI").
On ...
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Agadah / Talmud Bavli Map
Is there a spreadsheet or list available, linking the אגדתא of shas with the standard pagination? I.e., flagging daf כ ע"א, כב ע"ב, כה ע"א as having אגדתא. (Anything in עין יעקב, but in ...
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Did Phinehas lose the Divine Spirit?
I was reading an article that mentioned Phinehas, it said he lost the divine spirit, is there a reason for this?
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What is the malchus harisha nowadays
The Talmud talks of a malchus harisha (evil kingdom). This seems to be referring to the Roman Empire in all contexts.
Tractate Avodah Zarah 2b says that Rome and Persia will last until the coming of ...
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In Gem. Makkos 9a, how can Abaye suggest that a person is unaware of the prohibition to kill?
Gemara Makkos 9a reports:
א״ל אביי אומר מותר אנוס הוא
Abaye said to him: One who says that it is permitted to kill the
victim is a victim of circumstances beyond his control, as he was
unaware of the ...
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שישי or ששי - two yuds or one?
The Shas Vilna Hachadash for Yevamos writes שישי with two yuds at the top of each page for the sixth perek yet writes ששי with only one yud for the Meforshim commentating on the sixth perek in the ...
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Meaning of a phrase in the Chiddushei R Nachum
I'm looking at the Chiddushei R Nachum on Bava Kama 20b פט
Rami bar Chama says that there is a case from the Mishna of an animal eating in a rishus harabim and being chayav ma shnehes that proves ze ...
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Is there a different deadline for Moshiach to come with mercy than to come with more harshness?
Chazal bring down that human history follows the seven days of creation, with each day representing 1,000 years, and the seventh day being a day of rest. Therefore, it follows that Moshiach must come ...
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Maharal on Bava Basra 25A
I saw in the Artscroll Talmud, Tractate Bava Basra, at the very end of 25A:
The Gemara quotes a Baraisa concerning the path of the sun: A Baraisa has taught: R' Eliezer says: The world resembles a ...
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Israelite/Jewish flags
Does the Talmud or any other Jewish sources for that matter discuss and/or describe any flags that were associated with ancient Israelite/Jewish kingdoms?
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How in the Talmudic interpretation does עמד mean תפילה?
"וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר־עָמַד שָׁם אֶת־פְּנֵי ה'" Genesis.19.27
The Talmud concludes (Berakhot.26: "וְאֵין ״עֲמִידָה״ אֶלָּא תְּפִלָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (...
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Yeshiva Mir Mesechtas
What is the Mir Yeshiva’s (Yerushalayim) cycle of mesechtas? What are they learning for next zman? Does the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn follow the same cycle?
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Is photosynthesis discussed in halacha?
There is a discussion in the talmud/halacha about if a plant grows between an upper floor and lower floor, who does the plant belong to. [I don't have the source, I only heard part of a class in ...
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Why did Rabbi Shila hide what he said?
In Berakhot 58a, Rabbi Shila thanks G-d by saying:
״לְךָ ה׳ הַגְּדֻלָּה וְהַגְּבוּרָה וְגוֹ׳״
When he's asked by the authorities about what he said, he replies:
״בְּרִיךְ רַחֲמָנָא דְּיָהֵיב ...
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question about the talmudic statement about not waking up a parent even in the extreme circumstance of a huge deal on offer?
I have a question about the talmudic statement about not waking up a parent even in the extreme circumstance of a huge deal on offer..
I recall when I was in school the Rabbi was going through some ...
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Status of the "minor tractates"
Why were the so-called "minor tractates" (מסכתות קטנות) not incorporated into the Talmud? Are they any less authoritative? Haven't we extracted halacha from them? They certainly deal with very ...
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Question about Reish Lakish
Why is Reish Lakish sometimes called in the Gemara "Reish Lakish" and sometimes "Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish"? Why not just use one title?
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Talmud: Asking to sharpen the other?
We find in Shas that the Rabbi's asked questions although they knew their answers in order to sharpen the other:
Berachos 33b: And Rabba too knew this Mishnah - but merely asked Abbai this question ...
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Why is there no Gemara on Avos?
Why is there no Gemara for Pirkei Avot? I can hear why Bavli has no Zeraim, and Yerushalmi has no Kodashim. But Pirkei Avos should have the most Gemara of all!
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Takanas Ezra and the 9 Kabin
I would like to begin my question by making everyone aware that I am aware of this thread ( Why don't men go to the mikveh after relations/ejaculation? )
With that being said my question is ...
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Why is a side of a Talmudic page called "amud"?
On some occasions, I have heard one side of a Talmudic page called tzad meaning "side".
The more common term I have heard is amud meaning "pillar". Why is that term used, and when did this term first ...
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Source for tradition of discussing Halachic dead ends
Many times while discussing a possible interpretation of a Mishnah, the Gemmorah tries to offer "dead-end solutions" - possible ways of explanations that are knowingly false.
NOTE: I don't ask WHY ...
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who did yechezkel hanavi do t'chias hamaisim on?
the benai ephraim left egypt many years before yetzias mitzrayim happened,
unfortunately however they passed through eretz pelishtim,and the pelishtim killed them near gaas.
however r'yehuda ben b'...
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If giving tzedakah money to parents is a "disrespectful matter" (Talmud, Kiddushin 32a), is giving tzedakah to other relatives a bad idea as well?
My question is going to be a bit complicated so stay with me before you mark it as a duplicate. In my previous question Is giving money to parents considered a tzedaka?, I received answers that it's ...
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List of easiest mesachtos according to Chazal
Is there a source anywhere that show us in any way what Chazal thought were the easiest to hardest Talmud Bavli tractates?
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does anyone know where the source of this gemora:
Does anyone know where the source of this gemora:
A father says my son should be for a korban, and the gemora digresses and says we dont know if the father is a chosid or a shoteh.
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Missing father's obligations on sons (Kiddushin 29)
According to the Mishna in Kiddushin 29, backed by the Braitah (in place), father's Mitzvos (definition not clear) upon his son(s) are only the follows:
Circumcise
Redeem the firstborn
Teach ...
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"Stay away from doubt" in Kiddushin - why not if you can?
This is an overview question on Halokhos of Kiddushin in general.
Many many ways of Kiddushin result in "Kiddushin in doubt" ("מקודשת מספק"). Examples:
Omitting "to me" in "Harei At Mekudeshet..." ...
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Moses minting coins in the desert?
Numerous Talmudic discussions (Kiddushin 9-12, B"M 44 and more) refer to coins that were in use by Moses (in Moses times, i.e. in the desert, I presume), some that the Torah mentions, like Shekel, ...
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No Talmud and Rambam fear of Indian idolatry?
India is mentioned in many ways in Talmud, and clearly our sages had extensive trade with India, for example Kohen Gadol's garments and Ketoret ingredients see Mishnah and Talmud dealing-with-indian-...
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What the מאירי holds on חזקה
Where are places in the Gemara (or anywhere else) that we see the way the מאירי holds when it comes to חזקה.
Preferably חזקה דמעיקרה but all sources are helpful. Thanks!
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Why does the gemara sometimes use a mashal to explain a statement?
Sometimes the gemara (or a braysa) will say something and then give a mashal (parable) to explain the true intent of what was previously said. Why does the gemara do this? Why not simply make the ...
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What is the source that you can not have benefit from miracles?
There is a famous concept that a person is not allowed to have benefit from a miracle. What is its talmudic source and what does it apply to?
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Examining the Zav
Does anyone know of any rabbinic sources (Talmudic/midrashic) that indicate that a Zav would go to a halakhic authority to be examined regarding his Zivah?
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